YARMOUTH, Mass. — Despite back-to-back stellar hitting performances, Cotuit’s bats were silenced against Yarmouth-Dennis on Friday night.
In a 5-1 loss against the Red Sox, the Kettleers were held to just five hits and struck out 14 times.
“That’s the worst effort we’ve had all summer,” head coach Loren Hibbs said. “They did a good job pitching, and they’ve got a good idea of what they’re doing.”
Until the Red Sox scored on a double in the fifth inning, both starters pitched lights out. Kenton Deverman (Evansville) was given the nod and delivered on the mound for a second consecutive outing. In five innings, the right-hander surrendered only four hits and struck out four.
“We always identify how we want to attack each guy,” Hibbs said. “The execution was good, and we just didn’t take advantage of a really quality start.”
On the other side, former Kettleer Hunter Watkins (Oklahoma State) pitched five innings of his own, fanning seven players in the same maroon uniform he wore last summer.
The Kettleers’ lone run came in the sixth inning, when a dropped infield fly off the bat of Jack Natili (Cincinnati) plated Ryne Farber (Auburn), tying the game 1-1. Natili reached second on the error, but a strikeout by third baseman Cam Johnson (Oklahoma) followed to end the inning.
Mason Davenport (Campbell) was tapped to relieve Deverman with a tie in the sixth inning. Consecutive walks to open the inning and a steal of third put runners on the corners with no outs. A sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox the lead, which they would keep the rest of the game.
Y-D blew the game open in the seventh inning. Singles from AJ Soldra (Seton Hall) and Dean Carpentier (Southern California) to start off, plus a fielding error from Andrew Wiggins (transfer portal) paved the way for Cody Miller (East Tennessee State) to bring both runners home on an RBI double, putting the Red Sox up 4-1.
Before being pulled in favor of Max Haug (George Washington), Coppersmith gave up one more run. With Miller on second and Garrett Wright (Bowling Green) on first, Will Gasparino (Texas) knocked a single to left.
Gasparino’s sole hit of the night put the Red Sox up 5-1, which held the rest of the game.
The Kettleers will look to bounce back against Bourne at 5 p.m. Saturday at Lowell Park.
